Except you’re on the Forbes list of billionaires, no matter how financially insulated you are, you must have given this period, and the months or even years ahead some serious thought. Whether you’re a business person, an entrepreneur or an employee, you must be coming up with strategies on how to deal with the coming weeks of uncertainty.

The world is experiencing a plague like no other and despite the advancements in science and medicine, the earth is spinning to a halt. Economies are shrinking as companies shut down and most employees stay at home or work remotely as the global GDP sheds weight. Africa as usual, with teaspoons of foreign reserves can only survive on financial first aid from the world’s big economies who are also grappling with similar problems on a different scale.

What the future holds, nobody knows, but what we all can conclude is that the world will never remain the same. Businesses will operate differently, and a lot of analyses will commence on the possibility of humanity being wiped out by a pandemic worse than the coronavirus.

In the new world order, everyone will have to take positions and live differently from how they’ve always done, and here are some tips I think will help. The suggestions are not exhaustive neither are they a foolproof blueprint to get by, but they will lead in a direction highly unlikely to end in complete doom.

Cut down on non-essential expenses: Except you’re earning more at this time as few businesses are, you have to focus more on your needs and less on your wants. That new dress on discount can wait. After all you’re still home and won’t be attending a public function any time soon. Before you make any purchase, ask yourself if you can live without it. Pizzas, ice cream and all those junk food should stop working your jaws in between meals. If you feel like snacking, consider some fruit or better still, do not snack.


Write a Budget: Except you’re going on a joyride, you never start up your car with no destination in mind. With that, you know where you’ll drive through and can estimate in your head how long it will take. If you’re spending without a budget, you’re no different from a blind man walking a busy street without a guide or stick. Your budget should take into consideration what your income is and your expenses should only be a maximum of 90% of your income, while 10% or more goes into your savings. If you can survive on N100,000, trust me, you can on N90,000.


Track your spending: Do you realize that multinationals that gross in billions of dollars do their accounting to the last N20? So why should an expense of a hundred naira slide without you documenting it? After your budgeting, what you need to do is create a budget tracker. Fortunately, there are hundreds of mobile apps you can download to use. Some of them even come with reminders to prompt you to enter your expenses just in case you forget. I use Spending Tracker and it’s a very useful tool in my personal accounting


Stay Relevant: If you’re not busy at this time, there’s a chance your job may have no future. As hurtful as it sounds, this is a huge chance you have to brace up and get yourself set for the future to come. You can learn a new skill or develop that talent you had as a child but which got strangled by the ropes of survival or pressure. This is the time to meditate a whole lot and think of what can sell in a world functioning pretty much the way it is today, without the threat of the virus.


Be Upfront with your Kids: [/b]Sometimes we assume they do not understand and because we can take the fall for them, we believe they have to make no adjustments while we scramble to keep up. Your kids and dependants need to know the true picture and why things may never be the same—at least for now. They need to make sacrifices. So if you’re thinking of scrapping your cable TV subscription, you can let them read books instead. They can make their own toys from scraps and used things around the house, they can also eat less and sleep more. In the end, these choices may not just be beneficial to your pocket but healthy for their development.


[b]Stay Healthy: The last place you want to find yourself at this time and in a recession, is in the hospital with no medical insurance. And a lot of the time, our health status are a function of our lifestyle and habits. This is the best time to quit smoking and cut down on alcohol. It’s also a great time to start exercising if you never used to. If you need help, you can get an accountability partner in your spouse, neighbor or a friend you can connect with online. You can also get into online fitness challenges to motivate you.


Save! Save!! Save!!!: Enough said!


Share Costs: In the coming months, you will need to pool resources to bargain better and get things cheaper. Ten to twenty people can come together to buy and share a cow for beef instead of buying from the markets. You can initiate this in your WhatsApp groups instead of limiting your discussions to gossips and fake news. By the time the coronavirus dust settles and doors are open so we can breathe again, you may need to start extending your sharing to carpooling or consider getting a roommate etc.

The weeks, months or even years to come will be remarkably different from the ones you lived before now. It is important that you act differently from the way you’ve always done to stay in tune and profitable in the future.

https://emptycribs.com/surviving-the-lock-down-and-the-recession-ahead/

You know NOTHING about where this PANDEMIC is taking HUMANS to.

These are great tips. Wehdone!!

ayobamiJR:
You know NOTHING about where this PANDEMIC is taking HUMANS to.

At least, he gave us free tips that can help us stay ahead & be proactive.
What tips have you where the Pandemic is taking Humans to?

SouthNigerian:


At least, he gave us free tips that can help us stay ahead & be proactive.
What tips have you where the Pandemic is taking Humans to?

Death. Hunger. Crime.

Government would add another 2 weeks definitely.

What Melinda Gates said is true.

ayobamiJR:

Death. Hunger. Crime.
Government would add another 2 weeks definitely.
What Melinda Gates said is true.

These are obvious problems you stated. What are the solutions to this problems?
We need tips.